Apparatus for preventing collisions, &amp;c., on railways.



No. 050,800. Patented. 00L-2, |900. s. M. scnmalan. APPARATUS F03PREVENTING COLLISIONS, SLC., 0N RAILWAYS.

(Application Bled May 17, 1899.! (No Model.) I0 Sheets-Sheet l.

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APPARATUS FOR PREVNTING COLLISIONS, &c., 0N RAILWAYS.

(Application filed May 17, 1899.) (No Model.) I0 Sheets-Sheet 2.

:ns co., Puouurno., WASHINGTON. n. c.

No. 658,806. Patented 0ct..2, |900.

. G. M. SCHREIBER. APPARATUS FDR PREVENTING COLLISIDNS, 81.6., 0NRAILWYS.

^ (Application led May 17, 1899.) (N0 MWL) lo sheets-sheet 3.

:ns co.. Puma-urna.. wnsmmmn, n c

' No. 658,806. Patented 0m. 2. |900.

. M. SCHRElBER.

APPARATUS FUR PREVENTING COLLISIDNS, &c., 0N RAILWAYS.

(Application filed May 17, 1899A (No Model.) l0 Sheets-Sheet 4.

Patented Oct. 2, |900.

l0 Sheets-Sheet 5.

G. M. SCHHEIBER. APPARATUS FOR PREVENTING COLLISIONS, 81.0., N RAILWAYS.

(Application lcd May 17, 1899.) (No Model.)

G. M. SCHREIBER. atente 0"- 21 |900.

APPARATUS FOR PREVENTING COLLISIQNS, &c., 0N RAILWAYS.

(No Model.) (Application filed May 17, 1399,)

l0 Sheets-Sheet 6,

No. 658,806. Patented Oct. 2, |900. G. M. SCHREIBEH.

APPARATUS FOR PREVNTING COLLISIUNS, 81.0., 0N RAILWAYS.

(Application filed May 17, 1899.) (No Model.) I0 Sheets-Sheet 7.

No. 658,306. Patented Oct. 2,. |900. G.-M. SCHREIBEB.

APPARATUS FOIVA PBEVENTING CULLISIONS, &c., 0N RAILWAYS.

(Application filed May 17, 1899.) (N0 Model.) k l0 Sheets-Sheet 8.

jf/fy. 12.

nu. 658,806. Patented oct. 2, vmnu. s. M. scHnElEn.

APPARATUS FR PREVENTINGl CULLISIONS, 8m., 0N RAILWAYS. (Applicationfiled May 17, 1'899.) (No Model.)

l0 Sheets-Sheet 9.

No. 658,806. Patented oct. V2, i900.

f a. M. scnmzlsn.

' APPARATUS FUR PBEVEN-TING COLUSIDNS, 81.0., 0N RAILW-AYS.

(Application filed May 17, .1899.)

I0 Sheets-Sheet l0.

(Nq Model.)

UNITED STATES PATENT EEICE.

-GEORGES MICHEL SHREIBER, OF CZENSTOCHOW, RUSSIA.

APPARATUS FOR PREVENTINC co'LLlsloNs, ste., 0N RAILWAYS.

SPECIFICATION forming part ef Letters retenu No. eesoe, atea octobe 2,1900'. Application flied Mey 17, 1899. serai No. 717,169. (No man.)

To all whom it Amay concern:

Be it known that 1, GEORGES MICHEL SCHEEIEEE, residing atCzenstochow,Govern ment Pietrokoif, Theatralad, in the Empire of Russia,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus forPreventing Collisions and other Accidents on Railways, (for which I haveapplied for patents in Germany dated March 25, 1899; in Austria datedMarch 27, 1899; in Hungary, No. 4,609, dated March 28, 1899; in France,No. 275,256, dated March 29, 1899; in Belgium, No. 111,242, dated March29, 1899; in Italy datedrMarch 30, 1899; in Spain dated March 30, 1899;in Portugal dated April 5, 1899; in Sweden, No. 570, dated March 29,1899; in Norway, No. 10,979, dated March 29, 1899; in Denmark, No. 351,dated March 29, 1899, and in England, No. 6,848, dated March 30, 1899,)of which the following is a specification.

Many attempts have been made to construct apparatus to prevent thecollision of trains and other accidents on railways, which, however,have been unsuccessful, the apparatus not fulfilling all the variousrequirements. Such apparatus was adapted only for the proximity ofsignal-boxes and stations, so that accidents could still happen on otherparts of the railway, and,'further, the operation of such apparatusdepended more or less upon the staff of the railway and was ,thereforesubject to human error.

This invention relates to apparatus which acts automaticallyandindependently of the engine-driver and other staff and is designed toprevent collisions and other accidents at all parts of a railway.' Thisobject is ob-4 tained mainly by the distribution of devices along thewhole road, which are arranged one before and one behind the train, tobe protected at a certain distance therefrom, so that another train canapproach the rst train only to a certain distance in front or behindsuch train, because when the second train meets the devices it isautomatically stopped by the action of the brake'and interruption of thesteamisupply.'

In order that this invention maybe the better understood, I no w proceedto describe the same, reference'being had tothe accompanyings and to theletters and figures marked thereon.

Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view showing the general arrangement of theapparatus. Fig. 2 shows a side and part sectional view of the protectingdevice arranged at certain intervals on the road. Fig. 3 shows similarviews of this device at adifferent position of the working parts. Fig. 4is a View in the direction of the arrow, Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a view fromthe other side in the direction of the arrow, Fig. 3. Fig. 6 is a planof part of the device. Fig. 7 is a plan'of the whole arrangement, andFigs. 8 to 14 show details explained in the following description.

Fig. 1 illustrates, as before mentioned, the general arrangement of theinvention. For the sake of simplicity one line of rails is only assumedoutside, to the right and left of which are arranged in pairs theprotecting devices 1 3 5 7, dac., and 2 4 6 8, &c. On one side arearranged the devices with uneven numbers and on the other side thedevices with even numbers. To each of these devices correspond twoadjustable striking devices within the rails, which when thecorresponding protecting device is operated by a passing train occupysuch a position that a lever provided under the locomotive strikesagainst them and is operated, so as to actuate the pneumatic or steambrake, to interrupt the steam-supply, and, if desired, to give a visibleor audible signal to the engine-driver, so that the blocked road cannotbe passed over by a train in either direction except by the train whichhas automatically effected the blocking.

Suppose a train travels along the road in the direction of the arrow andis provided on the right side of the locomotive with a lever outside therails adapted to strike against a lever of the devices l 3 5 7, dac.Suppose also the train has traveled far enough to have passed device 5and passes the device 7. The operation of the device moves two blocks 7Land 7", both connected with the device 7 by drawing mechanism, so thatprojections a of the blocks occupy thepositions shown in dotted lines inFig. 14.' If now a driver intends to pass the blocks 7 a or 7b thus adjusted, the lever b, suitably placed below the frame IOO of thelocomotive, would strike against the projection (t of the correspondingblock,where by an axle c will be rotated. (See Fig. 14,which illustratesas an example how this mechanism may be constructed.) By means of a cordd or similar device the rotation of the axle c operates a catch e. Adisk fmakes then a rotarymovement. under the action of a weight. Therotation of the disk f actuates either the brake of the train orinterrupts the steamsupply to the cylinders, or both, and it may furthergive an audible or visible signal to the driver that the train muststop.

Referring now again to Fig. l, when the train passed device 7 the blocks7a and 7b occupied such a position that this part of the road can now bepassed over only by the train which passed device 7, being blocked fromthe rear and from the front against any other train. The block 7 b whileoperated has acted on the device 3, previously operated by the sametrain, and has disengaged the same, so that the device 3 and blocks 3fLand 3b have returned into the position previously occupied by them. Thenthe train travels farther and passes the device 9, the procedure isrepeated, the blocks 9 and 9b are adjusted, and the device 5, previouslyactuated, with the blocks and 5b, are returned into the originalposition. It will be seen that the train is protected for a certaindistance in front and rear and controls this part of the road foritself, blocking it against other trains and relieving the block when ithas advanced sufficiently far so as not to further require theprotection. The following is a description of the details of such adevice provided on the right and left of the line and coveredconveniently by a box.

In a frame m, conveniently Iixed outside the line, rests an axle 7L,Fig. 3. The axle 7L carries a lever g, provided with a pivoted end lo.Then a train approaches, the lever g is turned over by an arm fixedbelow the locomotive and turns a cog-wheel t' in the direction of thetravel. The cog-wheel i engages with a cog-wheel o, rigidly connectedwith a ratchet-wheelp, Figs. 2, 10, and ll. When the lever g was beingturned over, a weight l was wound up, which operates immediately afterthe passing of the level' g and rotates the cog-wheels Ai and 0 inopposite direction. Before the lever g is turned over by the arm underthe locomotive the parts occupy the position shown in Fig. 8. Aratchet-pawl ,ixed to thecylinder s and subject to the inliuence of aspring :15, engages with the teeth of the to the cylinder s the latteris rotated in the same direction until the nose 3l of the same isengaged by a pawl 30, and thus secures the cylinder s in the positiongiven to it. The various parts then occupy the position shown in Fig. 9.The free end ofthe pawl thas been moved by the pin t', so that the pawlis disengaged from the ratchet-wheel p. A lever e, pivoted at w, ismoved by the spring l5, so that its lug v, entering through the orificea of the ratchet-pawl, arrests the latter in its disengaged position.The spring x, which has the tendency to press the pawl tinto the teethof the ratchet-wheel p, cannot come into effect. To the cylinders areattached the ends of two chains 16 and 17, so that the chains, which runalong two different directions of the railway, are both wound up duringthe rotation of the cylinder s, due to the action of the weight. Thechains lead to a block device situated in front or behind the train andmarked lu 2 3, dac., and lb 2b 3b, dsc., according to the main devicesto which they belong. (See Fig. 1.)' The construction of these blockdevices is shown in Figs. 2 and 3. The apparatus consists, essentially,of a casing a, in which is rotated a cog-wheel 22 with an axle 32,lifting a rack 2O and bringing it and the projection 2l into theposition shown in Fig. 3. In this position of the projection theblocking of the line and projection of the train have been effected. Asshown in Fig. 7, an axle 32 carries three chain or wire pulleys 33, 34C,and 35, of which 33 is connected with a chain or wire service led to theapparatus from which the block has been adjusted. The pillley 34 isconnected to the nearest main device in order to free simultaneouslywith the lifting of the corresponding projection the part of the roadwhich is not to be blocked any longer. The third pulley 35 carries aweight 23 in order to return the parts into their position of rest whenthe block in question has been set free again, Fig. 2.

To the block device a (shown on the left in Fig. 7) belong two disks orpulleys 36 and 37, of which 3G is connected to the main device, pulley37 carrying the weight 23 to pull down the projection 2l. The thirdpulley is omitted in this case, because only the block devices on theright side in the direction of the travel of the train are required toreturn the devices into the positions of rest.

When a main device is operated, the train can travel to and fro on thepart of the railway blocked by it without disengaging the block orresistance from the parts. For i11- stance, when the locomotive-armhasturned over the lever g, Fig.4 3, and the driver wishes to go backwith the train-for instance, to fetch a disconnected carriage-the hingedend k is turned into the position shown in dotted lines and permits thetrain to pass. Vtfhen afterward the train travels again forward andturns the lever g over again, the cog-wheels i and 0 are operated androtate the ratchetwheel p,- but as the pawl of the cylinder s is IOOcsoe e pressed out of the teeth of the ratchet-Wheel the wheel willsimply turn withoutintluencing the cylinder blocked in its position andthe blocks o r projections connected therewith.

As before mentioned, by means of the disk 34, Fig. 6, the nearest deviceis returned into the position of rest. For this purposea line of wire orchain, connected to the pulley 34, is connected with a sliding device24, Fig. 12, and adjusts the same, overcoming a spring 25, Fig. 3. Theprojection of the slide 24 then passes against a pivoted arm of thelever 28, and thus brings the projection 30 in such a position that theprojection 31 of the disk becomes free, and the cylinder s canconsequently return into its original position, whereby thecorresponding block devices return into their position of rest. Thelever 28 is shown in detail in Fig. 13 and is subject to the pressure ofa spring 29. The return of the cylinder s is eifected by the weights 23of the block devices. When the cylinder s, Fig. 15, returns, the end 19of the lever z strikes against a projection 18, as shown in Fig. 8. Inconsequence the projection QJ passes through the opening u of theVratchetpawl t, overcoming the spring 15,whereby the ratchet-pawl tisqbrought again into engagement with the ratchet-wheel under theinfluence of the spring The parts then have taken up the position readyfor action, so that the procedure can be repeated.

In the following case the present invention is of special value. If, forexample, it be supposed that two trains on the same line approach eachother with such a velocity thatv a collision at some point on theline-as, for example, between 17 18 and 19 20--would take place, thetrain advancing from the right upon passing the apparatus 15 would raisethe block 15a, which would force the train advancing from the left tostop. This latter train, since upon passing the apparatus 22 it actuatesthe block 22a, will likewise prevent the train coming from the rightfrom farther advancing. It is consequently quite impossible with thesubject-matter of the present invention that the distance between theapparatus 17 18, on the one hand, and 19 20, on the other, where acollision could have hitherto taken place, be passed over by two trainsapproaching from opposite directions. The same effect would be producedif a train were to run off the line at any point. In this case also thepoint in question would be completely protected.

In the following claims I use the expression train-stopping device tomean any means for automatically or indirectly causing it to-be stopped.

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates, is-

1. In combination in apparatus for preventing railway accidents, aseries of train-stopping devices, a setting device consisting of atrain-operated lever and means for setting and resetting the same, andeach connected to set two of the said train-stopping devices at adistance in each direction along the track, and connections forresetting the said train-stopping devices from a much greater distancealong the track, whereby an engine or train will successively set thetrain-stopping devices at a given distance in advance and at a givendistance in the rear, and subsequently resetthem, substantially as setforth.

2. In combination in apparatus for preventing railway accidents, aseries of train-stopping devices, a series of setting devices, saiddevices consisting of a cylinder s, and lever and mechanism for settingand resetting the lever, all being situated without the line of railstherefor actuated by engines or trains when moving in one directiononly, and each connected to set two of the said train-stopping devicesat a distance in each direction along the track, and connections forreset-l ting the said train-stopping devices from a much greaterdistance along the track, whereby an engine or train will successivelyset the train-stopping devices at a' given distance in advance and at agiven distance in the rear, and subsequently reset them, substantiallyas set forth.

3. In combination in apparatus for preventing railway accidents, aseries of train-stopping devices for engines or trains going in onedirection, comprising a cylinder or drum and a train-operated lever withmeans for setting and resetting the same a series of trainstoppingdevices for engines or. trains going only in the opposite direction, aseries of setting devices therefor, operated only by engines or trainsgoing in the first said direction and connected to set one of thetrainstopping devices at a suitable distance ahead and one of them at asuitable distance in the rear, and means for resetting the said stoppingdevices to normal position when the engine or train has gone farther,substantially as set forth.

4. In combination in apparatus for preventing railway accidents, aseries of train-stopping devices for engines or trains going in onedirection, a series of train-stopping devices for engines or trainsgoing only in the opposite direction, -a series of setting devicestherefor consisting of a cylinder'and lever, operated only by engines ortrains going in the first said direction and connected to set one of thetrain-stoppin g devices at a suitable distance ahead and one of them ata suit-able distance in the rear, and means for resetting the saidstopping devices to normal position when the engine or train has gonefarther, a similar series of setting devices operated only by engines ortrains going in the opposite direction on the same track, and twosimilar corresponding. series of coperating trainst-opping devices andmeans for resetting them, whereby an engine or train will be protectedagainst being run into by trains approaching it in either direction, andalso I'IO ment of the said lever, and means for resetting the cylinderto its normal position, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in the presence of twowitnesses.

GEORGES MICHEL SClllllllBllR.

Witnesses:

WOLDEMAR HAUPT, HENRY HASPER.

